Chelsea make first signing of the summer; beat Crystal Palace, West Ham to €40m Michy Batshuayi
If true, Chelsea’s summer transfer activities have just gone from zero to sixty faster than you can say, wait, what would this mean for Diego Costa’s future? That’s L’Equipe reporting in their late edition that Chelsea have finalized a €40m deal for 22-year-old Belgium international Michy Batshuayi. Batshuayi, fresh off of scoring Belgium’s second goal against Hungary in the Euro 2016 first knockout round is supposed to undergo a medical tomorrow (Wednesday) before signing a five-year contract.
Batshuayi was supposedly all set to move to Crystal Palace , which sounds strange but could easily be seen as further evidence of the Premier League’s financial power. He may or may not have also been set to move to West Ham United. But if this sudden turn of events is true, he will be joining a very different team in London instead.
Marseille have been told to raise £21m or risk sanctions from the DNCG which regulates the finances of football clubs in France.
Chelsea had supposedly been pursuing other options at center forward, including Batshuayi’s international teammate and former Great Chelsea Hope, Romelu Lukaku , Spain’s Alvaro Morata, and perhaps even Serie A record-breaking goalscorer Gonzalo Higuain. The Batshuayi option has emerged without much warning at all, but is certainly a cheaper (as strange as that may be for a €40m transfer) than any of those three.
Born in Brussels, Batshuayi had a tough start to his professional career. Even before turning 13, he had already tried and failed at R.F.C. Evere, RUSA Schaerbeek and FC Brussels. Then came the decisive move of his life when he joined Standard Liege in 2008.
After coming through the academy ranks for 3 years, Batshuayi made his senior debut for the Belgian club in 2011. From there on, he grew strength to strength and kept scoring goals.
In his first season he scored 6 goals, next season he netted 13 goals and then in 2013/14 season he made the entire world to take note of his exceptional scoring abilities. In 34 starts, he fired 21 goals and led Standard Liege to their first ever Belgian League title since 2008.
Those performances were enough for Marseille to splash €6million on this talented striker and Batshuayi has not disappointed since his move to Ligue 1. After taking initial time to adjust, the young striker has scored 19 goals and managed 9 assists in 44 appearances for the French club. Michy Batshuayi: Style of play and strength
He is not a modern day striker who will drop deep and play in the hole or try to be the number 10, he is an out-and-out striker who thrives on scoring goals. Gifted with pace and acceleration, he sees space and he runs for it.
Batshuayi is a two-footed powerful striker whose quick feet and superb finishing makes him a threat against any opposition. Standing at 5 feet 11, he tends to out-jump his opponents more often than not.
His movements inside the box and having the ability to be at the right place makes him harder to mark. He is an instinctive finisher who does not waste too many chances. This season, he has finished with 48% of his shots and has enjoyed per-90-minutes goal ratio of 0.67, which is impressive for a player of his age.
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